Adelina Grotenhuis ’28
I had enjoyed my science classes in school but always felt myself getting stuck on the “why” and the “how” behind the knowledge we were being taught. Science is typically presented as straightforward and objective, but I was skeptical of this. In my high school biology class we watched The Race for the Double Helix (1987), which opened my eyes to how the creation of scientific knowledge is intertwined with larger societal issues and pressures. Similarly, the more recent movie Oppenheimer (2023) brought to light the ethical questions raised by scientific and technological progress that are not always realized or discussed.
When I was applying to college and deciding on a major, my favorite class I had taken was Biology, and I had attended philosophy summer programs that I enjoyed. These seemingly opposite disciplines left me conflicted about which to choose—until I found the Science, Technology, and Society major and realized I didn’t have to. STS not only connects humanities and STEM as the human endeavor to understand and explain the world. It also explores contemporary questions about the way science and technology function.
At Pomona, Professor Laura Perini’s Discovery, Invention and Progress: Philosophy of Science and Technology class sold me on STS. Discussing fascinating topics such as Langdon Winner’s “Technologies as Forms of Life,” ethical perspectives on gene editing, and the theory-ladenness of observation left me wanting to learn more.
Science courses at Pomona—specifically psychology with Professors Jessica Stern and Michael Erickson and ecology with Professor Nina Karnovsky—have taught me to be a creative, critical and well communicated scientist through designing my own experiments and presenting my findings at poster sessions and conferences. We do hands-on work like conducting surveys for psych or doing field work for ecology at exciting places like the Bernard Field Station, the Intertidal Zone at Laguna Beach, and the California Botanical Garden.
As an interdisciplinary scholar, I bring a critical lens to my science courses and firsthand experience of the scientific process to my humanities courses. The breadth of the Pomona STS major allows me to explore a range of topics, including ones I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered, like my Media, Technology, and Energy course that explores climate change through media studies. I hope to carry the skillset of connecting people across disciplines and transferring my knowledge to new contexts as I pursue fellowships and graduate programs after Pomona.
Shelsy Zarate ’24
In high school, I decided that pre-med was not for me. Although super interesting and important, STEM courses did not help me think about how that knowledge fit into the societies and cultures we live in. I specifically wanted to explore the realm of public health and learn about how medical services and technology could be made more accessible to low-income, immigrant, communities of color. Thus, I came into college knowing that I wanted to study STS because of its interdisciplinary approach to knowledge-making, scientific development, and policy. What I did not know, however, was that STS would equip me with the skillset to not just think critically in my future career, but to think critically in my day-to-day life.
As a first-generation, child of immigrants, my favorite STS classes were the ones that explored how my difficult experiences navigating the U.S. healthcare system were related historically and politically to those of marginalized populations all over the world (i.e., Science, Medicine, and Colonialism). Many of these classes utilized case studies to teach STS theories and methods, and I personally believe that the tangibility of STS in multiple disciplines has helped me learn much more than I anticipated I would coming into college.
The beauty of STS is that it introduces students to interests within and outside of STEM fields that they might have not realized inspired them as much as they do. For example, STS introduced me to how cultural conditions shape medical hierarchies, which encouraged me to take a Medical Anthropology class during my time abroad in Yucatán, México. At the same time, the major provides students with the flexibility to dive as shallow or as deep into STEM fields as they desire. As I hopefully go into a Master of Public Health program next year, I am confident that the interdisciplinary education STS provided me with—which is the epitome of the Pomona liberal arts experience—will guide me in every step of my future career.